What Do you give God for Christmas?
What Do you give God for Christmas? Matthew 1:23-1:23 The first
Christmas gift was given by God to us, so what do we give Him?
Matthew 1: 23, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is, God with us. Did Mary really understand,
who, she had in her arms, did she understand the implications of
these little hands wrapped around hers? Did she know that her
child would walk on water, feed thousands with little, did she
know that healing of every disease was at his finger tips? Did
she know that His wisdom would exceed the Pharisees and the High
Priest? Did she understand who she was holding, the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords, did she know that Jesus was the Great I
Am, and the saviour of the World? Christmas is the favorite time
of year for most people. It seems that people come together more
at this time of year than any other, they forget about the
arguments and the trials and troubles that they have had and
start to begin anew. You can walk down most main streets in the
country and see the festive colors of lights and trees decorated
up with colors of every sort. People bundled up in their fine
coats and hats and scarves , all looking for that perfect gift
to give a loved one. Walking down the street you can hear the
wonderful music that blends in with the holiday spirit, songs
like, O little town of Bethlehem, O holy night and others seem
to fill the air. The smell of fine food draws you near the
restaurants and you can see all the fine food that has been
prepaired with great care. And you decide to sit for a while at
a park bench and just take it all in. As you sit and listen, you
can hear a quire sing a familiar song, O come all ye faithful,
and you start going over a list in you head, of presents that
you've gotten so far and you try to remember if you've forgotten
someone. Lets see, you got your wife a fine new coat that she's
been wanting, the one with the fir trim, and the new bicycles
with chrome handel bars for the kids, they'll love them, the
mail man a box of candy, your mom and day a new blanket, with
tigers on it, the in laws, a fruit basket with their favorite
fruits, your boss a pen set and a doggy chew for the dog. You
sit and ponder for a while and start walking again, in a while
you see a statue brightly lighten up and you stop and look
intently. The statue is of Jesus on a cross and just beyond it
you see a manger sean and all of a sudden you realize that
you've forgotten someone, someone who gave the first Christmas
present, you've forgotten God. You start to think, What in the
world do you give God for Christmas, a car, a boat, a pair of
gloves, no thats silly, God owns everything. I know that I
forgot Him last year and the year before. I know I've not been
in church for a while, maybe I can go to church for a while to
make up for it and give him a little of my time. But I've
forgotten how to pray, I remember when mom and dad use to take
me it seemed easy, all I have to do is ask him for stuff. But ,
wait, its supposed to be His present, not mine. What do I get
God for Christmas? In a little while, I saw the pastor of the
church open the door and when he saw me he ask if I needed
something. I told him, I was trying to figure out what I could
give God for Christmas. Come in and well figure it out, He said.
As He explained, God loved us so much that he picked a very
special day to give us His present. Something that you didn't
have to wrap or lay away, something without ribbons or bows,
something that didn't spoil, if you kepted it too long. He gave
us something where we would never grow thirsty or hungry,
something that would heal every disease, cancer, lonely-ness and
despair. Something that you would never have to fix or replace,
something that would never wear out or ever run away from you.
He gave us, of Himself, a part of Himself that He loved very
much, as you love you own child. It wasn't a something my
brother, it was a someone, Jesus Gods only begotten Son. The
saviour of the world, the best gift that anyone could ever
receive. Jesus paid for your sins on the cross, with his, sweet,
blood and his very life. The pain and suffering that he endured
was for you, that was his Christmas present to you. And you ask,
What do I give God for Christmas? There's only one answer that I
know of, He read from Romans 12:1-2, I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And not be conformed to this world, but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good , and acceptable, and perfect , will of God.
The best present that you can give God this Christmas, is
yourself, and your family, with Love. Can we do that Church, can
we give God of ourself this Christmas and not only on Christmas
but all thru the year? Think about it. ars.